Some aircraft continued flying as testbeds for Raytheon until the 1980s. Marine Corps retired its last EF-10Bs in 1970. EF-10Bs served in the electronic countermeasures role during the Vietnam War until 1969. Air Force unified their designation systems, the F3D-1 was redesignated F-10A and the F3D-2 was re-designated F-10B. Skyknights continued service through the 1960s in gull white color scheme, when their contemporaries had long since been retired. Also, a few aircraft were converted for use as trainers and were designated F3D-2T. In the late 1950s, a number of the Marine F3D-2 aircraft were re-configured as electronic warfare aircraft and were designated F3D-2Q (later EF-10B). Only 38 aircraft (12 F3D-1Ms, and 16 F3D-2Ms ) were made able to use the missiles. The F3D-2M was the first operational Navy jet aircraft to be fitted with an air-to-air missile, the Sparrow I, a missile that used beam riding guidance for the aircrew to control the flight of the missile. The F3D (under the designations F3D-1M and F3D-2M) was used to support development of a number of air-to-air missile systems during the 1950s, including the Sparrow I, II, and III and Meteor missiles. The F3D's career was not over though its stability and spacious fuselage made it easily adaptable to other roles.
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In the years after the Korean War, the F3D was gradually replaced by more powerful aircraft with better radar systems. and radar operator Master Sergeant Hans C. The first air-to-air victory occurred on 3 November 1952 in a United States Marine Corps F3D-2 piloted by Major William T. By the end of the war, Skyknights had shot down six enemy aircraft (one Polikarpov Po-2 and five Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15) without a loss. They also flew nighttime intercept and interdiction missions. They were used as escort fighters, accompanying B-29 Superfortress bombers on night raids. F3D-2 aircraft, however, saw extensive service during the Korean War and destroyed more enemy aircraft in Korea than any other Navy or Marine fighter aircraft. The few F3D-1 aircraft were used primarily to train F3D crews and did not see combat. Operational historyį3D-2s of VMFN-513 at Kunsan, Korea, in 1953
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A higher performance F3D-3 version with swept wings and J46 engines was planned, but was cancelled when the trouble-plagued J46 engine program was terminated. A total of 237 F3D-2s were built before production ended on 23 March 1952. The F3D-2 also incorporated an improved Westinghouse AN/APQ-36 radar system. Development problems with the J46 lead to F3D-2 aircraft being fitted with J34-WE-36 engines instead. The F3D-2 was intended to have Westinghouse J46 engines in enlarged nacelles to replace the J34-WE-32 engines of the F3D-1. The F3D-1 was followed by the F3D-2, which was first ordered in August 1949. A production contract for twenty-eight F3D-1 production aircraft soon followed in June 1948. įirst flight of the XF3D-1 occurred on 23 March 1948. The complexity of this radar system, which was produced before the advent of semi-conductor electronics, required intensive maintenance to keep it operating fully. The AN/APQ-35 was a combination of three different radars, each performing separate functions: a search radar, a tracking radar, and a tail warning radar. The radar system in the F3D-1 was the Westinghouse AN/APQ-35. (The losing design from Grumman evolved into the F9F Panther.) Navy awarded Douglas a contract for three XF3D-1 prototype aircraft on 3 April 1946. Instead, it was a stable platform for its radar system and the four 20 mm cannon mounted in the lower fuselage. Power was provided by two Westinghouse J34 turbojets mounted in the roots of then-standard straight wings of the early jet era. Maintenance on an APQ-35 radar of a F3D-2 in Korea, 1953